Bro. William Okello's Testimony

Part 2

In the first part of this story, I set out my childhood
in a nutshell up to the year 1975. At that point in
time I had come to believe in the truth of the Bible.
One experience however that I omitted in that article
which was also to have a profound effect upon my faith
had taken place earlier, about 1971. It was at secondary
school and a gifted preacher had been granted permission
by the headmaster to hold meetings at the school's main
hall. A number of us boys who were sceptical about
'savedness' and the reality of God stood by the windows
to observe the proceedings. This man spoke with such
power and certainty that it left a deep impression upon
me. At the end of the sermon he prayed such an anointed
prayer the entire hall was electrified by tearful cries
and screams of repentance. Needless to say, it did create
a fear of God in me for I had never before witnessed an
occasion whereby people were overwhelmed by the reality
of God's presence. Those services caused such a stir in
the school that the headmaster, fearing for his job,
banned that minister from the school.

Back to 1975. By that time I had been close to Joyce
(now my wife) for a number of years. We had been to
primary school together in 1968, sat in the same class
and (as she likes to recount) shared the same desk. I
am not too sure about the seating arrangement, but her
memory is obviously clearer than mine on this. What I
do know is that she was a close friend of my young aunt
who was also in the same class with us. Then I began to
feel affliction in my body in the form of chest pains.
At that time I did not realize that this was the tool
that God would use to drive me to salvation. These pains
put a fear in my heart that caused me to believe I had
been poisoned. The reason for this fear was because of
what had happened to my uncle a few months earlier. We
had grown up together, gone to school together right up
to secondary school. No bully messed me at school because
he always took care of them. To put it mildly, we were
very close as friends too. Then he was struck down by
chest pains and died in October 1974. It was strongly
believed by most that he had been poisoned. Since we
had often travelled to social functions together, I
believed strongly that my ailment had been caused at
the same time and I began to fear the worst and started
to look for a remedy. Since I was still basically an
unbeliever, my first recourse was to a native doctor
who also doubled as a diviner and who lived a few
villages across from my own. Joyce came along with me
and when we reached this man's home, he sat me down
and through his divination pointed an accusing finger
at a neighbour of mine as being the culprit responsible
for my troubles. The diagnosis was crude but persuasive
enough for me to yield to his treatment. The 'treatment'
could hardly be described as pleasant. He obtained a
brand new razor blade and cut fresh wounds all over my
body into which he rubbed the medicines. He gave me
assurance that all would be well. I left that place
wishing I had never gone through with such blatant
violation of my body. Fortunately for me, my body does
not easily leave scars.

About that time Joyce was going to be a mother. Both
of us had been admitted to university and we had to
make a decision as to which of us would work to
support the forthcoming baby and who had to study.
During those days the East African Community (a body
similar to the European Union and grouping together
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania) was still in existence.
It was the most sought after employer in the region
and when vacancies for trainee air traffic controllers
came up I applied for one. I was accepted and I
travelled to the East African School of Aviation based
at Wilson Airport in Nairobi, Kenya while Joyce went
to Makerere University.

While in Nairobi, I still sought for treatment for my
pains. The hospitals had not carried out any serious
examination of me and so I went to an astrologer.
This astrologer was well known all over East Africa,
claimed to be the best in the world and advertised
regularly in the papers. When I arrived at this man's
clinic, I found a long queue of patients had already
formed. The queue however moved quickly and I was soon
to discover why. When my turn came, before I could
utter a word he took my palm, examined it for a few
seconds, told me he knew what the problem was and
prescribed a remedy. I protested to him that I hadn't
even told him which part of my body ached me and that
I thought it best for him to hear me first. But he
would have none of it. He told me he knew what the
problem was and as well he knew what the cure was and
as such I should trust him. Then this man took a
considerable sum of money from me and handed me a shiny,
black piece of stone which he instructed me to dissolve
each morning in a cup of tea with my breakfast and to
go back for more should the supply run out. But no
matter how much sugar I put in the tea, its taste
remained awfully bitter due to the presence of that
drug. After a few months of this unpalatable and futile
treatment I discarded the stuff. Then I began to ponder
about God. That preacher who I had listened to at
secondary school was a co-founder of a Christian sect
that had gained quite a reputation in East Africa among
the born again Christians. It went by the name
Deliverance Church and preached not just deliverance
from sin but divine healing too. I had tried hospitals
and diviners for my healing but to no avail. Perhaps
my salvation lay with these people. I resolved to
become 'saved'. By then Joyce and I had become married.
During holidays she would travel to Nairobi to be with
me where also I was looking after our child (you know
him as Bill) with the help of a housemaid. I made an
attempt to find a branch of the Deliverance Church in
Nairobi, but strangely enough could not locate them
even though I knew they had the largest following in
Kenya. I was living in a block of flats among the
other trainee air traffic controllers who had opted
against staying in hotels but instead had taken flats.
Among them was one from Uganda. We were not familiar
friends since he attended a different class, but I
soon came to realize he was a born again Christian
and regularly went to church.

One day while I was standing in the open space chatting
with a group of my friends, I spotted this brother
coming back from church. I signalled him to stop,
went over and after a brief introduction I told him
boldly that I wanted to become 'saved'. Would I come
to church the following Sunday, he asked me. Yes, I
would I replied, but did not. It was the Sunday after
that following one that I showed up with my wife, son
and the housemaid. This was in June/July 1976 and my
first step into a Message Church. I cannot recall what
the sermon was, but here were preachers that spoke with
the same power as that preacher. Perhaps I had found a
Deliverance Church after all.

At the end of the service, the preacher asked those
who wished to be saved to put up their hands. Joyce and
I hesitated and looked at one another, not sure what to
do. Then I put up my hand and she followed suit. Later
we were driven to the Nairobi Dam and baptized by
immersion in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I
remember the two leading ministers, Brother Obadiah
Kamwati (who was later confirmed Pastor, and still is)
and Brother Johnson Ibuka who baptized us and became
a close friend. When we returned to our residence, the
brother who had taken us to church invited me to his
flat and handed me the Seven Seals book. The first words
my eyes fell on were, "Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord:" Then I noticed the Cloud picture
hanging on the wall. It occurred to me that there was
something supernatural about all this and God created
an intense desire in me to know more. There was a plentiful
supply of books coming from the Spoken Word publications
and I read as many books as I could find. I became aware
of other world-renowned evangelists, but found out none
could compare to the prophet and I believed the Message
with all my heart. Then the time came for my course to
end and I had to return to Uganda.

And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the
little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up;
and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy
mouth sweet as honey.
Revelations 10:9